


Cinder Jag

by voleuse



Category: Community
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-05
Updated: 2010-11-05
Packaged: 2017-10-13 14:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 695
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/138409
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/voleuse/pseuds/voleuse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><em>I look into it and read my past. It is a difficult book. I prop it up. It flaps its pages.</em></p>
            </blockquote>





	Cinder Jag

**Author's Note:**

> Set after 2.06. Title and summary adapted from Cathy Linh Che's _Transmutations_.

Abed scratched at the scar tissue on his forehead, delicately, with one finger, because doing it any other way would signal he was suffering from drug-fueled delusions of ants. There were a couple of scars on his hands, too, curved like little waves, or teeth.

Troy was obsessing about some message Chang had left for him. He kept listening to it, over and over, and he wouldn't look Shirley in the face.

Jeff was very upset about his missing jacket, though everybody except Pierce said it served Jeff right for wearing a suit that cost more than Shirley's and Britta's cars, combined.

Abed scratched at his forehead again. He was missing something. He stared at the back of his hand, at the scalloped scabs. There was something he was supposed to realize, right at this moment.

He stared at the back of his hand, and then he gasped.

*

Troy bounced on his feet as Abed listened to the message. When it reached the end, Abed waited patiently for the options to finish, then replayed it.

After the third time, Troy held his hand out, demanding the phone back. "Well?" he asked.

"Well what?" Abed responded.

Troy threw his hands up. "What do you think? Is it real?"

Abed considered the question. "Yes." He paused. "Why does Chang have your phone number?"

"How is that important?" Troy asked.

"Why shouldn't it be?" Abed watched as Troy tapped his foot, and he wondered why it wouldn't be. It seemed relevant. Chang wasn't really friends with them. He would have noticed, or maybe Troy would have said something. Chang would be in their study group if Troy was friends with him. Chang would be unwelcome at first, but eventually he would win the group over through a redemptive arc that might possibly involve his emotionally distant family, or maybe a small pet of some sort. "Every group needs a proper antagonist. It creates conflict and keeps the dynamic fresh."

Troy blinked. "The pop-and-lock contest," he said. "I had to borrow a pair of shoes."

"Okay." Abed nodded. "Maybe Shirley's too embarrassed to talk about their affair. It's a common trope after an unexpected tryst."

"I don't know what all of those words meant," Troy said, "but I think you're right."

"Also," Abed said, "I think the government subjected us to memory alteration after our recent zombie outbreak."

"Cool," Troy replied. "I hope the cafeteria has tacos."

*

Annie scratched behind her knee, and Abed wondered if an _Ally McBeal_ reference would be out of place. She looked uncomfortable; he decided against it.

"You look uncomfortable, Annie," he observed.

Annie wrinkled her nose, scratching idly at her left shoulder. "I just have some bug bites," she replied. "Mosquitoes or something."

"It could be bedbugs," Abed said. "Or flesh-eating bacteria."

Annie's eyes widened.

"Probably not," he decided. "Annie, can I tell you something?"

"Yeah, Abed," she said, "of course." She leaned forward, which emphasized both her sincerity and her V-neck T-shirt. "What is it?"

"I'm pretty sure that gas leak on Halloween was actually a cover story for memory alteration by the government in order to cover up a zombie outbreak that may or may not have been caused by some sort of military-grade bioweapon we ingested at the party." He paused. "Or a chemical spill in a government-funded lab."

Annie frowned. "That sounds kind of crazy, Abed."

He nodded. "I know. But it's the only thing that explains everybody forgetting what happened that night and the free health check-ups by those army doctors we get every month for three years." He tugged at his collar. "Plus, everybody has bite marks all over their bodies."

"Like vampire bites?" Annie asked.

"Zombie bites," Abed said. "I'm sorry, I thought I mentioned that before. Do you believe me?"

Annie bit her lip. "Is that important?"

"It won't change anything externally, because we're essentially powerless and faceless when pitted against secret military organizations with unlimited funding." Abed considered it. "But yes. You're my friend. Your opinion is important to me."

"Aw!" She reached across the table and clutched his hand. "I believe you, Abed."

Abed squeezed her hand, and decided to believe her, too.


End file.
